Seeing that the Leopard tank, which they were proud of, quickly turned into piles of burning torches under the heavy artillery bombardment of the Soviet army, the German officers and soldiers hiding in the trenches felt terrified. In addition, the Soviet troops used radio trucks and loudspeakers to constantly broadcast letters of persuasion to surrender on the opposite position, and many people had the idea of surrendering.

The officers and men of the 7th Panzer Division and the Greater German Division were almost brainwashed, and most of them were ready to fight the Soviets to the last man, the last bullet, with the idea of being loyal to the Führer. But the 58th Infantry Division was an ordinary Wehrmacht, and the soldiers saw that the fate of the German defeat was inevitable, and they were unwilling to die for the Nazis, so in the face of Soviet propaganda, the remnants of this division began to waver. The mid-ranking officers were apprehensive, and the junior officers turned a blind eye when they heard the soldiers discussing the contents of the leaflets to persuade them to surrender, and some even participated in the discussion.

Someone went to the temporary command headquarters and reported to the three division commanders about the anomaly in the 58th Division. After hearing this, the commander of the 58th Division did not express his position, and in his mind, there was no need to fight this battle that was bound to be lost. However, Karl Mauss was furious when he received this report, and he cursed in the most vicious language the officers and soldiers who tried to surrender to the Soviet army.

Later, Lorenz couldn't listen anymore and began to stop him: "General Karl Maus, don't say any more, in the current situation, it is useless to get angry." We're going to talk about how to break out of the Russian encirclement. ”

"Without reinforcements, we can't break through." The commander of the 58th Division said pessimistically: "There is a shortage of fuel for tanks, artillery shells, and bullets in soldiers' guns, and the ammunition we have cannot support a breakthrough operation of this scale." ”

"So what are we going to do?" After slamming his fist on the table, Karl Maus said indignantly: "Is it really necessary to lay down your arms and surrender to the Russians?" ”

"Perhaps, this is the only way we can save our troops." "We have done our best, there is no point in resisting," Lorenz said unexpectedly, and we immediately sent a telegram to General Reinhardt, asking him to allow us to lay down our arms and surrender. ”

"It's impossible." Karl Maus waved his hand sharply and said, "Reinhardt will not give us any assistance except to order us to hold our grounds. ”

At this moment, the telephone on the table rang, and Karl Maus grabbed the microphone and put it to his ear and said loudly, "What is the matter?" ”

The call came from one of his regimental commanders, who respectfully reported to him: "Your Excellency the division commander, the Russians have sent two messengers with white flags in their hands, and they are coming towards the defense area of our regiment. Excuse me, should we receive them? ”

"Shoot, shoot now." Karl Maus spoke into the microphone and said viciously, "Kill them all." ”

"Don't be impulsive, General Karl Maus." Lorenz stopped the impulsive Karl Maus in time and said to him with a serious expression: "If we shoot and kill the Russian messengers, then they will immediately launch a final attack on us." ”

"If we don't kill them, what are we going to do?" Karl Maus asked angrily, "Do we still have to politely invite them here and negotiate with them how to surrender?" ”

Lorenz took the microphone from Karl Maus's hand, put it to his ear, and said to the German commander on the other end of the phone: "Mr. Colonel, order your soldiers to shoot." Remember, just shoot them with a warning and don't hurt anyone. ”

The German commander, having received the order, immediately called the front and ordered them to fire warning shots at the Soviet messengers and not allow them to enter our defense zone.

After hearing that the messenger he had sent had been fired at by the Germans, Fedyuninsky decisively ordered the messenger to withdraw. On the other side, in the Greater German Division, a German lieutenant colonel received a messenger sent by Volsky and received an ultimatum from him.

This ultimatum was quickly sent to the temporary command of the three division commanders. After reading the above, Lorenz was about to hand it to Karl Maus, but he refused. The latter said angrily: "General Lorenz, you read the above contents. ”

Lorenz nodded, and then began to read it: "...... As commanders of the besieged forces, you are well aware that you have no chance of breaking through the encirclement, that you are in a desperate situation, and that there is no point in continuing to resist. In such a situation where there is no way out for you, and in order to avoid bloodshed, we recommend that you accept the following terms of surrender:

1. All the besieged German troops, led by you and your division headquarters, cease to resist;

2. You have handed over to us all personnel, weapons, technical weapons and military supplies in an organized manner. We guarantee the safety of the lives of all officers and soldiers who cease to resist. After the war, we returned it to Germany or to any country to which the prisoners of war wished;

3. We keep uniforms, identification marks and medals, personal belongings and valuables for all surrenderers;

4. We will immediately provide all surrendering officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers with a normal diet, as well as effective treatment for wounded officers and soldiers......"

When Lorenz put down his ultimatum, he also deliberately added that "in the ultimatum of the Russians, they also warned at the end that if their conditions were not accepted, their troops would have to attack until we were completely annihilated, and we would bear full responsibility for the casualties and property damage caused by this." ”

"Intimidation, this is the intimidation of Hongguoguo." Karl Maus waved his fists and said unconvinced: "My 7th Panzer Division and I will fight to the last man and will definitely not surrender to the Russians." ”

The commander of the 58th Division stood up and said to Karl Maus: "Your Excellency, General, I am responsible for my soldiers. The war is coming to an end soon, and I don't want them to sacrifice their lives in vain in such a winless battle. I decided to accept their ultimatum and surrender to the Russians. ”

After speaking, he raised his hand and saluted the two division commanders, turned around and walked towards the door. He had just taken two steps when he suddenly heard a crisp gunshot, and then felt a sharp pain in his vest. He covered the wound on his back with his backhand, and turned to look at him with a pistol in his hand, only to see Karl Mauss looking at him with a fierce face in his hand.

He pointed his finger at Karl Maus, and was about to rebuke him when he fired two more shots at him, shouting viciously: "You damned coward, traitor, go to hell." The commander of the 58th Division held the wound on his chest, spun in a circle, and slowly fell to the ground.

Lorenz couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw Karl Maus shoot and kill the commander of the 58th Division, and hurriedly stepped forward and leaned down, probed his nose with his hand, and then shook his head and said, "He's dead!" ”

"You deserve to die." Enraged, Karl Maus continued: "There must be no mercy on such traitors. ”

The soldiers on duty outside, hearing the sound of gunfire coming from the command headquarters, immediately rushed in. Seeing the commander of the 58th Division lying in a pool of blood, Lorenz squatting next to his corpse, and Carl Mauss standing in the middle of the room with a pistol, everyone couldn't help but be stunned, thinking to themselves, why did the three division commanders fight?

Seeing the soldiers rushing in from outside, Lorenz stood up, snatched the pistol from Karl Maus's hand, placed it on the table, and then ordered the soldiers: "Take the body of this division commander out and find a place to bury it." This matter must be kept absolutely confidential, and if there is a leak, be careful of your lives. ”

Although Lorenz repeatedly stressed secrecy, two hours later, the news reached the ears of the officers and men of the 58th Division. When everyone knew the cause of the division commander's death, they all scolded Carl Mauss. When the crowd was excited, I don't know who shouted: "We won't fight, we will all surrender to the Russians." ”

This man's shouting immediately aroused the response of the vast number of officers and soldiers, first a dozen people shouted, then dozens of people, hundreds, hundreds of people shouted: "We will stop fighting and surrender to the Russians." ”

Soon, an infantry squad in the forward position left the trench en masse and walked towards the defense area of the 121st Infantry Corps of the Soviet Army a few hundred meters away. Many times everyone knows how to do things, and the reason why they have not taken action is simply because there is no one who has taken the lead. At this moment, I saw that some people were striding towards the Soviet positions on the opposite side, and they also followed.

The actions of the German army were soon discovered by the soldiers on duty of the Soviet army, who thought that the Germans would launch a large-scale attack, and hurriedly blew the whistle to notify the commanders and fighters who were chatting, sleeping, and eating to enter the combat post.

A German soldier at the front of the line saw the Soviet positions in the distance starting to get busy nervously, and he realized that the other side might have mistaken him for attacking. Fortunately, he was in a hurry, and hurriedly threw the weapon in his hand to the ground, indicating that he was not hostile. The soldiers on his left and right and behind him also did the same, throwing away their weapons one after another, and walked towards the Soviet position opposite with their bare hands.

Having received a call from the 50th Army, Bogolyubov excitedly reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I have good news for you. General Borkin reported that there was about a battalion of German troops, which had laid down their arms and surrendered to our troops. ”

"A battalion, although the number is a little smaller, can have the effect of breaking the enemy." Rokossovsky nodded, then asked: "Which army are they?" ”

"All officers and soldiers of the 58th Infantry Division." Bogolyubov hurriedly replied: "General Borkin also reported that the commander of the 58th Infantry Division, who originally advocated surrender, was shot and killed by Karl Maus. ”

When Trubnikov heard this, he couldn't help but interject and said: "Comrade Marshal, I really didn't expect that under our persuasion, there were really German troops who took the initiative to surrender." ”

"The number of people is still too small. The remnants of a battalion are only two or three hundred when they are full. Rokossovsky shook his head and said with some regret: "You know, there are more than 10,000 German officers and soldiers in our encirclement. ”

"So what are we going to do?" Bogolyubov asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Should we wait 24 hours to attack the enemy, or should we launch an offensive in advance?" ”

Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said: "Let the radio trucks and loudspeakers deployed at the front make a lot of noise about Karl Maus's killing of the commander of the 58th Infantry Division, and cause them confusion." As for the attack, I think it's better to wait until the stipulated time limit is up before starting. ”

The besieged Germans were stunned when they learned that the commander of the 58th Infantry Division had been killed by Karl Maus. The officers and men of the 7th Panzer Division and the Greater German Division were relatively better, after all, the commander of the division did not have much contact with him. But for the officers and men of the 58th Division, the division commander was killed by his own people in the command headquarters, which was simply a great shame. In addition, when I heard that some of my colleagues had already surrendered to the Soviet army, they became more and more panicked.

After dark, the officers and men of the 58th Infantry Division deserted, and they crossed the line in a row and fled to the Soviet positions opposite. The regimental and battalion commanders of the 58th Division acquiesced in this practice, which led to more soldiers joining the fleeing ranks.

At dawn, many of the defensive areas of the 58th Infantry Division were empty in the trenches. After learning the news, Lorenz hurriedly led people over, but it was already too late. Before yesterday's ceasefire, there were more than 4,000 people in the division, and now it is just over 1,000 plus officers at all levels.

Seeing that the defense zone of the 58th Infantry Division had become extremely weak, Trubnikov suggested to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I suggest that in the upcoming attack, the defense zone of the 58th Infantry Division should be used as a breakthrough, so that we can divide the enemy's 7th Panzer Division and the Großdeutsch Division in the shortest possible time. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Rokossovsky shook his head at Trubnikov's proposal and refused: "Yesterday a large number of officers and men of the 58th Infantry Division surrendered to us, and the rest are still waiting. If we use their defensive positions as a breach, we will force them to put up a stubborn resistance. But if we attack the 7th Panzer Division first, then it is possible to turn these people into battle. ”

"This idea of Comrade Marshal is good." Chief of Staff Bogolyubov said approvingly: "As long as we launch a fierce attack on the 7th Panzer Division and the Großdeutschesg Division, the remaining officers and men of the 58th Infantry Division may surrender to our troops without resistance." ”

"Chief of Staff," seeing that Bogolyubov agreed with him, Rokossovsky instructed him: "Send a telegram to Fedyuninsky and Volsky at once, and when the time comes, immediately attack their enemy in front of them." Be sure to wipe out the enemy completely and cleanly. ”